Hey, Undertale community! I may be a grown-up but I adored the game and had a great time playing it! I did some reading in your section and I'm not sure anyone has broached this particular topic. As a seasoned writer myself, I thought I ought to contribute and I like the ideas I have for it This was in the description but I should mention that this contains major spoilers from both the True Pacifist and Genocide runs (of which I've only done True Pacifist myself- though I've watched Genocide a couple of times on youtube by various people). Just so you know, I almost didn't write this at all. I have admittedly started a few projects I ended up not finishing but if this takes off, I'll finish it.

Chapter One: Asleep

Toriel took a deep breath of clean, fresh air as she steadily stirred. That was the key to her butterscotch-cinnamon pie. Stirring. A thick enough consistency in the mixing bowl made a perfect filling in the pie. Not so long ago, this steady stirring had passed the time in her lonely life. But now she had a reason to keep on stirring. A reason to smile at her reflection on the metal edges of her bowl.

It had been three weeks. Three of the best weeks she'd had since...

She frowned, her heart twinging painfully. Best not to look back. Moving forward, accepting this admittedly wonderful new reality, that was the best way to heal. She couldn't save a single child. But a single child had saved her.

"Toriel?" Sans stuck his head in, grinning. "Kid's out like a light."

"Thanks for checking on her." said Toriel. "I'll leave her a piece for when she wakes up." she turned fully to face her skeletal friend. "Are you going to head home?"

"And miss out on pie? Haha, I don't think so." Sans winked at her and retreated to the living room.

It didn't take long to pour the mixture into the crust and place the pie in the oven. Toriel wiped her hands on her apron and leaned against the kitchen counter, staring around at her surroundings. Sometimes she would still wake up momentarily confused before she remembered she was here. The surface. There was still so much to explore, so much to learn, that she felt she was discovering as many new things as her students. She'd always been curious, of course, but with her new role as a single parent to a young girl, bringing herself to try to listen to her ex-husband's apologies, and trying to prevent Undyne or Papyrus from burning her house down, she felt like every day was an adventure.

She took off her apron and hung it before making an appearance in the living room.

"-don't see why she won't let me help!" Papyrus was complaining loudly, stamping his foot dramatically. "Pie and spaghetti are practically the same thing!"

Toriel, used to this complaint, spoke up in as patient a voice she could muster. "I believe you still need to master the basics, Papyrus."

"I've been practicing!" Papyrus shot back, looking rather proud of himself. "I've almost mastered boiling water!"

"And I'm very proud of you." Toriel gave him a smile. "You do us all proud. Don't you?" she narrowed her eyes at Sans. "Don't you?"

"Ah yeah." Sans chortled. "We're very proud."

Papyrus puffed out his rib cage in triumph, apparently placated. This time, at least.

"So, are you cookin' up a lesson plan too?" asked Sans in a clear attempt to change the subject before Papyrus started to catch on to his insincerity.

"I'm always doing that." Toriel smiled and sat down on a love seat with a deep, contented sigh. "I've never been so busy."

"Neither have I!" Papyrus interjected. "I've had so many projects! The crossword puzzles don't write themselves, you know!"

Toriel smiled fondly at him. His new job a puzzle maker for the local paper seemed to give Papyrus a purpose in life beyond his original aspirations to be part of the Royal Guard. It had been Frisk's idea originally and the paper had loved Papyrus's, well, unique style. So had the public.

"Well," Toriel said, trying to get the conversation back on track, "my lessons tomorrow are on the last of the monsters from Hotlands. And then I think the kids will be caught up. I wonder if I can focus on animals from the surface from there on out. Though I'm a bit concerned we won't have enough material to cover."

"I think you'll manage." said Sans in a rather knowing tone. "How's Frisk?"

"You just saw her before bed." Toriel reminded him.

"Yeah, but you're around her all the time. How's she adjusting?"

"Really well." Toriel replied. "She's got kind of an edge over the kids in her class, except the monsters, knowing about what's in the Underground already. And she's been a good ambassador, even just to the class. Hasn't given me any trouble." she paused for a moment. "Why do you ask?"

"Hey, she freed us from a life underground." said Sans. "We owe her a lot. I'm just makin' sure she's adjusting pretty well too."

"How's Undyne?" Toriel asked Papyrus. "Is she still working for Alphys? I keep meaning to invite her over but with all the lesson planning and raising Frisk, I just haven't had a chance."

Papyrus gave her a toothy grin. "She's been doing a really great job! The scientists really are the most generous people here. One day as Alphys's assistant and they gave her all the vacation leave she wants!"

"Ah. I see." Toriel fought the urge to laugh at Papyrus's obvious naivete. "So what's she doing with all her vacation leave?"

"Well she's been talking about joining the Royal Guard above ground." Papyrus put his head in his bony fingers. "What's that called again?"

"The military." Sans told him.

"Ah yes! If I weren't so busy with my puzzles, I would join it too! I hear they have a whole group that pretends to be seals! And another one made of infants!"

Sans snickered behind his hand, which went unnoticed by his brother. Toriel smiled warmly at him and nodded.

"I think you should stick to your puzzles for now, Papyrus." Sans said seriously. "Who knows, maybe they'll open up a puzzle faction you can join!"

"That's a wonderful idea!" Papyrus pointed a single finger in the air, straightening himself up to his full height. "I, the Great Papyrus, will be a puzzle making military hero! I should start practicing for my photo ops. Which side is my good side, would you say?" he began to make a series of ridiculous poses.

The timer in the kitchen dinged, preventing either Sans or Toriel to respond to this turn of events. Toriel excused herself and got up, heading to the kitchen. The pie was finished, its crust a golden brown and its contents smelling delicious. She liked the surface cooking instruments, even if they took longer than fire magic. It was yet another way to integrate herself to her new reality. She passed her hand over the pie, using magic to cool it faster. Then she cut a decent sized piece and placed it on a plate. Frisk was going to get the first piece. She definitely deserved it.

She quickly slipped from the kitchen to the hallway to Frisk's room, only hearing snippets of Papyrus's insistence that his photogenic side was his left side. The little girl was fast asleep, her short brown hair fanning out behind her on the pillow. As much as the child loved pie, Toriel decided not to wake her now that she looked so peaceful. She placed the plate with the pie on the floor, cast a quick magic charm to make it repel bugs and dirt, and slipped out the door with a smile on her face.

As she entered the hallway again, she could have sworn her heard an odd noise come from the girl's room. A sort of low, creepy laughter. She hastened over to the room again but found only the sleeping child within. It had to be her imagination. Toriel shook her head, deciding that it was simply the strain of her new life. As wonderful as it was, it could be very exhausting.

But she couldn't quite shake the feeling that something was wrong as she served some pie to Sans and Papyrus. Fortunately, neither seemed to notice.

Sans bolted upright in bed hours later with a short gasp. It was a moment before his eyes adjusted to the darkened bedroom around him. He took several deep breaths to calm himself. No easy feat considering the dream he'd just had.

Instantly, details began to trickle out of his mind like water in cupped hands. He shut his eyes, trying to remember the details. Frisk was there. A red glint was in her usually green eyes, a sort of hungry smile he'd never seen on her before. And she'd... she'd...

Sans was irritated at himself for not remembering what had happened. It had felt so important, so vital while the dream had gone on and now he could barely remember a thing about it. The only thing that remained was a sense of foreboding. A sense that perhaps this wasn't just a dream.

A sudden sound made him jump. An owl was hooting overhead. Nothing dangerous. Nothing problematic. Sans sighed and burrowed under his covers again. He couldn't shake the uneasy feeling but perhaps it was only a dream.

He hoped.

We're just getting started! I don't think the updates will be too long. Since I've got a few projects going on, who knows how frequently this will get updated. But I wanted to get something out to you soon and contribute to this wonderful fandom.

Also, I'm not going to include any romance in this fic. I do have ships that I like, some canon and some not, but I want to include all fans regardless of ship preference.

Don't forget to review!

~KateMarie999